Recycle used oil helps to protect the environment

Cars are an indispensable fact of life for most of us. So, too, are abundant and clean supplies of drinking water. What we do with the used oil from our cars plays an important role in balancing our desire for convenient transportation with our desire for a clean and healthy environment today and for future generations.

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Each year in the United States alone, millions of gallons of used motor oil are improperly disposed, which can result in the contamination of lakes, rivers, streams and groundwater supplies.

We are all familiar with recycling newspapers, aluminum cans, glass and plastic bottles, but you may not be aware of the efforts of the petroleum industry and other groups to promote used motor oil recycling -- providing convenient collection sites for the purpose of keeping used motor oil out of our waterways and ground water supplies and getting used oil into the recycling system.

Safety-Kleen, the official environmental services supplier for NASCAR, collects, re-refines and reuses spent oil. Safety-Kleen services more than 145 professional race teams and 65 racetracks across North America. On an average Sprint Cup race weekend, the company collects 750 gallons of used oil at the track, which is put back into useable products. Beyond NASCAR, Safety-Kleen collects more than 240 million gallons of used oil each year.

This used motor oil has value even after it has been drained from an engine. The oil you take to a collection center to be recycled saves energy. It can be reprocessed and used in furnaces for heat or in power plants to generate electricity for homes, schools and businesses. It can also be sent to a refinery that specializes in processing used oil and re-refined into lubricating base oils that can be used to formulate engine oils meeting API specifications.

"Re-refined oil uses 85 percent less energy than making motor oil from crude," said Drew Patey, Motorsports Manager for Safety Kleen.

What can you do? If you change your own oil, be certain that you take it to a collection center for recycling.

Used motor oil that is collected by "do-it-yourselfers" is critical to the used oil recycling system. By dropping off your used motor oil today you help prevent pollution and conserve energy for a safer and healthier tomorrow.

Mobil is there to help. Visit www.mobiloil.com and use the Earth 911 locator to find an oil recycling or disposal facility nearest you.